Things that go bump in the night.

[Holister]

Greetin's from Cypress Cove

Well this is a story about something that was plaguing the Holister House for days...and nights. It all started just around the Holidays before we all headed off to Wyoming to spend Christmas with my folks.

Well it all started with some strange sounds comin' from the attic, and then from the basement. I looked all about the house and couldn't find anything. I brushed it off, and the sounds continued for three more nights and then just stopped. I didn't think much of it, that was until when Kelly noticed some stuff missing from around the house. Of course we asked the kids, the denied it of course. Lil' Samantha however told us a story about a hairy little man wearing a mask that would visit her at night. Of course it was a cute story, but Kell and I brushed it off and headed off to Wyoming.

Wyoming was fun; always is. Good to see the whole family in one place, but after a month it gets kind of cramped. It was good to get back home, that was until I opened the door. To our surprise the house, well a good part of it was trashed. I looked like we got robbed or somethin' like it the way the house was turned over the way it was. We searched the house and didn't find anyone, or anything, so I checked out the usual. Now for the strange part....all the locks were still locked, alarm had not been tripped, chimey flute was shut and locked still, and screen was still in place. It was the damndest thing, and and I know if anyone had tried to break into the house that alarm would have stopped them {I got that system from Bert back in the day}. Here is something else for Shelock Holmes, nothing valuable was taken or destroyed. The house was just wrecked???

Well we went about cleanin' up the place, most of the mess in the kitchen and livingroom, and some stuff was missing from both places, nothing valuable just stuff. Kell noticed some of her jewelery missing which damn near set me off, but it wasn't anything valauble either? Well all the good stuff I keep in the safe anyway {TY again Bert}. It was just odd, and being true believers, Kell and I both jumped from "odd" to "supernatural". I was
thinking that is all we needed, ghosts. Well a few days passed and things seemed fine, except Sammy kept telling us about her new "friend" that visits her each night. I began to listen when I found what looked like scratches on the floor in her room. So I did what any self-respectin' dad would do, I went into town and sought out our resident expect Frank Blackstone.

Nothin' against the Society, but we've been enjoyin' the peace and quiet and Frank knows what he's doin', and he's discreet. Last thing I would need is half the Society showin' up makin' a ruckus and havin' half my town wonderin' what the blue blazes I was doin'? Anyways, I told Frank everythin' that had happened and what Sammy described to us as a hairy little masked man. Right away he hit the books and gave me several possible options, from brownies to bogarts, to the most likely culprit, a Domovoy, a house spirit from Russian folk lore. How a Russian fairy got in my house is beyond me, but he told me that they are seldom dangerous unless angered and can be quiet helpful around the house if appeased by the home's owners. All I had to do was leave out a saucer or cream and some honey & crackers out every night. So I did.

Well the next morning the cream and crackers were gone. Right away I thought to myself, "Damn you Koyla, I know you have something to do with this, damn Russian house spirits." Well Sammy and Molly did the same routine for the next few weeks. The amount of stuff that went missing also dropped off to nearly nothing and everything seemed to return to normal. Sammy kept talking about her little friend and we just lived with it. That was until I noticed the bat one night in the bedroom.

Kelly kind of freaked out a lil' {girl hates bats, I know right, who heard of a werewolf being fraid' of a lil' brown bat}. Well I got rid of the bat {catch in release in the Holister House folks}. The next day however I wondered how it got in so I went looking. Figured I would start in the attic, I searched around and found the window was broken. So mystery solved, and that wasn't all.

Remember all that missing stuff, found it out on the roof of all places. "Huh?" I thought to myself. "Why would a Russian house spirit be leaving all the stuff it took on the roof?" The gears began to turn, slowly, but they turned. I went and checked the store room under the eve, never that that out, and lo and behold I found more stuff, and a big fat ol' raccoon. I decided to let sleepin' raccoons lye and left it be. When I explained to Kelly that our house spirit was nothin' more than a thievin' raccoon, she laughed her ass off. We've been feeding a raccoon that has been livin' in the attic crawl space.

We broke the news to the kids, and I took Sammy to see the raccoon. She conformed my "suspicion" that yes, it was her new friend. Turns out she was feeding it cookies, apples, and cereal too everynight. Now wonder it was so fat. Anyway, I called up animal control and they removed him. He was released back out into the woods, and I blew $300 to get the window fixed, good and tight this time. Also needed to blow another $200 an exterminator to spray for any unwanted guests {fleas, ticks, etc.}. The house has been peaceful ever since, and best of all, no more missing kitchen utensils.

Moral of the story, not everything "supernatural" turns out to be so. Some hell of an investigator I turned out to be huh? "D'Oh!"

[Hannah]

Thank you for the interesting read Ben. I am sure your local expert can confirm this for you, but the fey can and do often take the form of small animals when they are in our world. In fact its often easier for them to maintain their presence outside of their home realm if they adopt the form of something native to our world. Children and some gifted individuals can sometimes see through the disguise however.

Just something that might make you wonder.


Hannah Knight.

[Holister]

Thanks Hanhah, that there is food for thought.